


Princess, Reborn

by PinkRangerV



Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Beginnings of Romance, F/F, Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-10
Updated: 2014-08-10
Packaged: 2018-02-12 15:36:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2115381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkRangerV/pseuds/PinkRangerV
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Xena is in gang-ridden America instead of drama-plagued Greece, but the story remains the same. An AU retelling of E1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Princess, Reborn

**Author's Note:**

> Damn bunnies.

Maybe it was symbolic, burying her weapons and armor like that. Throwing them into the hole she spent hours digging with her bare hands, tearing each signature plate of beautifully-constructed leather and metal off her body, tossing every weapon, conventional or otherwise, down into the Earth. She shoveled dirt over it like a grave, like the graves she'd forced on others, the graves of her brothers.

Maybe it was fate, that she heard the screams only a minute later, and saw the three girls trying to outrun Drago's men.

Maybe it was symbolic that she walked into that fray in nothing more than her loose undershirt and shorts. No one at her back, no armor or weapons, not even a name. No Warrior Princess. Just the woman beneath that.

Maybe it was fate that, during the fight, she landed just close enough to that hole to feel her chakram's edge, and open her finger. To, for the first time, christen the blade with her blood.

Maybe it was time to reclaim who she had been.

 

* * *

 

“You've _gotta_ take me with you!”

Some annoying little white girl, in a pretty suburb house, but with a bit of flair. She'd stood up to the Dragons (the Dragons, gods, the name was every bit as pretentious as she remembered), demanding they take her instead of the two others. She easily shook off the worried clan members who wanted her to leave Xena alone, too.

Xena kind of admired that. Especially since this was pretty clearly, as she had just been told, a 'Christian town' that 'didn't need Xena's sort stirring up trouble'.

“No. I travel alone.” It would have been beautiful, seeing the end result of tempering that girl's inner fire, but Xena wasn't going to inflict pain on the girl just for the sake of beauty. She wouldn't have considered it even in her worst moments.

“I'm not cut out for this life!” The girl—Gabrielle—protested. “Have you seen the guy they want me to marry?”

“So tell them no.”

Gabrielle looked guiltily away.

“Running away won't solve your problems.” Xena reminded her as gently as she could. It was sad, that she had to choose between hurting her family and living her dreams, but there was much worse out there.

“Xena...I love them. And I love God. But I'm not a housewife.” Gabrielle argued, her fingers toying with her cross necklace. “I'm just.. _different_ .”

“Go to college.” Xena said firmly. “Get out the right way. Don't follow me.”

She saw the look of disappointment on Gabrielle's face, but hardened her heart to it.

She wasn't going to hurt a kid.

 

* * *

 

She might try and talk Drago out of taking that neighborhood, though.

Just. You know. For the girls.

 

* * *

 

Here was how well redemption was going, Xena thought bitterly. Her mother had disowned her in front of everyone. Her neighbors were convinced she was trying to reclaim the town, and were standing around her the way only a tense, angry mob could, whispering of the danger of rank amateurism.

 _Ungrateful assholes,_ Xena's darkest impulses hissed. _Do you not remember how this neighborhood looked when I was your leader? A naked woman could walk down the streets carrying a suitcase full of money and she'd be as safe as in her mother's womb._

Xena didn't say it. She snapped bitterly, tried to shame them, but didn't bother demanding they remember. That peace had come at a price, and she'd be a fool not to expect them to remember.

And then that stupid prep-school white girl, clueless little thing she was, had stepped in front of Xena and _bullshitted her way into saving Xena's life_.

Gabrielle wanted to come along.

...Well, a little adventure wouldn't hurt anyone. Xena would just keep an eye on her. Anyway, she seemed kind of sweet. For a naïve kid.

 

* * *

 

If this were her high school English class, the fight with Drago would symbolize her fight with herself, and Xena would be expected to write a full report on why that was.

In reality, it was exactly the opposite.

Her armor and weapons had never felt more _right_ than when she wore them in defense of her hometown. She didn't feel the wild mania of battle; there was still a rush of adrenaline, but there was a calm simplicity to it.

And then, when the scaffolding had broken...

It had been Drago's crucial mistake, trying to walk on people's heads and shoulders. The watching crowd wasn't cheering _him_ on. They tried to knock him away, fell in surprise, shouted and wriggled, and he was unbalanced.

But Xena?

They lifted her up and kept firm hands around her ankles so she didn't fall. They moved together to support her, so she could strike Drago down.

Xena landed on Drago's chest to avoid touching the ground. Just to prove the point.

“Get your men out by sundown.” She ordered.

Drago actually laughed. “How do you do that?” He demanded, almost hysterical. “How the hell do you keep fucking _winning_?” The last was almost a scream.

Xena stepped delicately to the ground. “I'm doing the right thing.”

Drago did snap and scream, then. His men dragged him away.

And then Xena's neighbors offered her the protection money.

 _Gang leader or no, I am_ still _surrounded by idiots._

 

* * *

 

The knock on Xena's door was a surprise.

The redhead on the other side...a bit less so.

“I couldn't convince the manager I wanted a room by myself.” Gabrielle said sheepishly. “And, um, there's really big mosquitos outside and I didn't actually bring enough food and...”

Xena sighed as she waved the girl in, but she smiled, too. “You know I'm sending you home in the morning.”

“I'll just follow you again.” Gabrielle told her matter-of-factly. “And this time I'll be better at it.”

A flame that sought to be tempered. A girl raised to be submissive, but clever enough to turn her words from 'the only weapons she had' to 'the only weapons she needed'.

Well, Argo _was_ a two-seat bike.

“I'm going to train you.” Xena warned. “You might _wish_ I'd sent you home. I'm not going to get you killed.”

“I'll teach you how to cook.” Gabrielle said with a mischievous grin.

Xena rolled her eyes and tried not to grin. “Go to sleep.”

Gabrielle obeyed. After a while, so did Xena.

They had work to do.

 


End file.
